From Mirror reports

RICHMOND, Va. — The Curve and Richmond got into a bench-clearing brawl during Saturday night’s game, then had a grand finale in the last game of the series Sunday.

The Flying Squirrels hit a grand slam in the 10th inning to win Sunday, 6-2, at The Diamond. They had only three hits in the game, but the third, by Will Wilson, gave the home team a memorable win.

Saturday’s game was memorable for a different reason.

The Curve led in the seventh inning, 4-2, before Richmond scored four runs on its way to an 8-4 victory.

In the sixth inning, Richmond’s Sean Roby hit a home run, and Curve reliever Noe Toribio hit the next batter, Tyler Fitzgerald.

In the top of the eighth, Altoona’s Connor Scott was hit by Richmond’s Chris Wright.

So, there was some bad blood between the teams, and both sides had been warned.

In the bottom of the eighth, Curve catcher Blake Sabol and Richmond hitter Jacob Heyward exchanged words at the plate before Heyward’s at-bat. The home plate umpire had to step in and control the situation so that play could resume.

Seconds later, on his first pitch, Curve reliever Oliver Garcia threw a pitch behind Heyward.

As the plate umpire immediately ejected Garcia, Richmond radio broadcaster Trey Wilson foreshadowed what was about to happen.

“Behind Heyward, and that’s going to cause a problem,” said Wilson, who previously served as the Curve’s play-by-play voice.

Indeed, there was a problem, as both benches cleared within a couple of seconds and filtered toward home plate.

“A fight has broken out behind home plate. They’re throwing punches. They’re pushing and shoving,” Wilson said during his radio call, with video available on social media.

While there was a lot of shoving and yelling, the situation did not turn into a full-on melee. But there clearly were a bunch of people upset on both sides.

Along with Garcia being ejected, so too were Curve catcher Sabol and manager Kieran Mattison. Richmond’s Heyward also was ejected.

The Curve lost that game and dropped four out of six in the series. The club is off to a slow start with a 3-6 record, which is tied for worst in the Eastern League.

The Curve are off today, then will return home Tuesday to begin a six-game homestand against New Hampshire.

Next stop

Tonight: Idle

Next up: New Hampshire at Altoona, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Record: 3-6